Why you SHOULD be using Firefox

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So on the back of this thread I switched to firefox for a bit... for a bit being the key. I spent about a month with it but i'm done with it again as frankly i'm just not a fan of it. I'm also not convinced that all this isn't just a dying company (Mozilla) kicking and screaming on their way down.

Playing devils advocate do you believe that they would be making all the noise if the web was "optimised for firefox"?
 
Soldato
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The web is 'optimised for Chrome, not for independent browsers'

This is unhealthy and my brief flirt with chrome should come to an end.

As james.miller stated "optimised for Chromium not chrome", I wish they would get their facts straight since it is so misleading in that article, personally I hate Chrome ,one reason why I don't use Chrome browser, also there are plenty of better Chromium based browsers out there,it's great that Chromium is open sourced since more choice for the users out there.

Firefox better learn fast from Microsoft and jump ship to a Chromium based browser or their days are numbered IMHO, would be great if they did make a Chromium based browser, I would probably try it since I don't like their current quantum versions.
 
Soldato
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I think you guys are missing the point and focusing on the technology behind the browser rather than the politics and big picture.

Another good article can be found here.

The point is this, the vast majority of the internet population are non technical people. They don't give a hoot nor understand what is happening behind the scenes.

The are sucked in by brands and branding and don't really care about what is happening with their data or privacy.

Even scandals like the Facebook Cambridge Analytica thing hasn't really woken any one up to what is really happening.

It's very very bad for Google to be so dominant of the internet and internet standards in ways which we will only find out in the future if this continues at it's current pace.

It's a bit like global warming. Us average Joe's don't care nor do we even believe, simply because it doesn't affect us in our day to day lives. But one day it MIGHT. And then when it's too late we will all really care about it because it has a meaningful impact on how we live our lives.

It's the same thing happening here but this time in the digital realm of the internet.

This is why there are initiative in the EU anyway to start to have an impact on breaking up the monopoly of the big tech companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple and Facebook.

It's happening. Lets just hope it's not too late.
 
Soldato
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I think you guys are missing the point and focusing on the technology behind the browser rather than the politics and big picture.

No, they're misrepresenting it. The internet is built around an open source engine that Mozilla could adopt and start contributing to tomorrow if they wanted to, but instead they are actively working against it. I'd be fine with that if chromium was closed but it is not. Microsoft understood that, and look at edge now. Brilliant browser.

 
Man of Honour
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The internet is built around an open source engine that Mozilla could adopt and start contributing to tomorrow if they wanted to

Kind of counter to one of the biggest strengths of the internet - though there needs to be some standards and degree of consistency "the internet" shouldn't be built around one, even open source, engine.
 
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Taken form the conclusion of this article:

"What really clinched the switch to Mozilla Firefox was the fact that it’s the only cross-platform browser that’s not running Google’s open-source Chromium platform. Microsoft’s Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi — each of these browsers run on Chromium, accelerating Google’s dominance over the web even when you’re not directly using a Chrome browser. Firefox, on the other hand, is powered by Mozilla’s in-house Gecko engine that’s not dependent on Chromium in any way.

It may not seem like as vital of a trait as I make it sound, but it truly is, even though Chromium is open-source. Google oversees a huge chunk of the web, including ads, browser, and search, and this supremacy has allowed the company to pretty much run a monopoly and set its own rules for the open internet.

Your move to Firefox won’t have a significant effect on this but it’s a step in the right direction."

Also there is a reason why Firefox is THE browser by default on Linux. Because it is 100% open-source. I do believe that chromium tracks users. As does Chrome.

This is why there was a backlash amongst the Linux community when some distros started bundling Chromium as the default browser.

I just switched back to Firefox.
 
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Soldato
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No, they're misrepresenting it. The internet is built around an open source engine that Mozilla could adopt and start contributing to tomorrow if they wanted to, but instead they are actively working against it. I'd be fine with that if chromium was closed but it is not. Microsoft understood that, and look at edge now. Brilliant browser.

Look what happens when everybody depends on one engine:
Google asks Edge Chromium users to Switch to Chrome browser on its Websites

Most expected this was coming, not this soon. Google got away and backed its decision to say new Edge Chromium as an unsupported browser on its sites such as Duo for web, Meet and YouTube when it was in development, once the Edge stable version has been released the Search engine giant has started to show its true colors to Microsoft who is actively contributing to Chromium. The company is now aggressively prompting Edge users on its websites such as Google Search, Google News, Google Docs and Google Translate to “Switch to the Chrome” browser.

It all started with Chrome Web Store where Google began to recommend Chrome to use extensions securely. While a normal user may not understand and treat this as an ad, non-Chrome and classic Edge users will definitely find the ones appearing now on Google properties as pop-up ads. While folks over at MSPU found this on the search engine giant home page, we noticed they are doing this on their News, Docs and Translate websites as well. We’ve even got an unsupported browser warning for Google Drive albeit for Edge Canary but not in the release version.

New Edge users don’t need to jump to Chrome as Microsoft has covered Edge browser which comes with automatic updates with alternate features for Safebrowsing, Google Translate, and Adblocker

Chromium Edge too has got Google’s ad blocker enabled in the browser if it thinks Chrome blocks ads on websites that show abusive ads. While Chrome protects its users when they visit dangerous and malware websites via the Safe Browsing feature, new Edge has Microsoft Defender Smartscreen and Potential unwanted Application download protection integrated to guard its users.

Talking about updates, Edge Chromium stable too now gets updated regularly like Chrome. If Chrome auto translates pages with its Translate service, new Edge has Microsoft Translator integrated to translate the pages.

Google soon will load all websites with slogans to switch to Chrome when it detects you’re using a new Edge browser. Get accustomed to them or ignore or switch to Chrome (will you do that?) or another browser or start using search engines such as Bing, DuckDuck Go and browsers such as Firefox and Vivaldi to get a reprieve from these ads which also protects your privacy to some extent.
Source: https://techdows.com/2020/02/google...switch-to-chrome-browser-on-its-websites.html
 
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Could you imaging if Google decides to close it's browser chromium project. All control will be then handed over to Google Chrome then once users start to move.

I read something earlier today that Brave browser was the most secure and didn't have over any data as a browser. Where as Google Chrome/Edge e.t.c where least friendly for handing over user data.
 
Soldato
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Unfortunately on my older pc with a 3570k Firefox is just too slow. Using the new Edge is night and day difference in speed.

You need a faster PC to really hide the fact it's a generally a slower browser.
 
Soldato
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Unfortunately on my older pc with a 3570k Firefox is just too slow. Using the new Edge is night and day difference in speed.

You need a faster PC to really hide the fact it's a generally a slower browser.
I do find Firefox slow at starting up, even with my i5 7500. But as soon as I disable uBlock Origin, the startup time improves vastly. So perhaps I could reduce the number of filters I use with uBlock Origin, but personally I can live with the extra second starting up.

Chrome remains running in the background all the time, even when you think it's closed. I think it does this for a fast startup time and sometimes I wish Firefox had an option to enable this too.
 
Soldato
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I do find Firefox slow at starting up, even with my i5 7500. But as soon as I disable uBlock Origin, the startup time improves vastly. So perhaps I could reduce the number of filters I use with uBlock Origin, but personally I can live with the extra second starting up.

Chrome remains running in the background all the time, even when you think it's closed. I think it does this for a fast startup time and sometimes I wish Firefox had an option to enable this too.

I don't use any addons. For me it's not start up, it's general usage. Like scrolling etc...

I'm loathed to use Chrome, Edge doesn't feel right and Firefox feels like home. But now that I've used all three recently I can see that FF is definitely the slowest browser.
 
Soldato
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[
I don't use any addons. For me it's not start up, it's general usage. Like scrolling etc...

I'm loathed to use Chrome, Edge doesn't feel right and Firefox feels like home. But now that I've used all three recently I can see that FF is definitely the slowest browser.


This was Firefox's greatest strength but over the years, especially Quantum version , less and less add-ons actually work from the older versions, one reason I jumped ship to Vivaldi and never looked back, old Firefox was great but I hate latest version.

I hate to say this but Firefox have lost me for good, sorry they changed too much for the worst, I remember using Firefox 3 ( yes original FF user back then) .

:)
 
Soldato
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Look what happens when everybody depends on one engine:
Google asks Edge Chromium users to Switch to Chrome browser on its Websites

Most expected this was coming, not this soon. Google got away and backed its decision to say new Edge Chromium as an unsupported browser on its sites such as Duo for web, Meet and YouTube when it was in development, once the Edge stable version has been released the Search engine giant has started to show its true colors to Microsoft who is actively contributing to Chromium. The company is now aggressively prompting Edge users on its websites such as Google Search, Google News, Google Docs and Google Translate to “Switch to the Chrome” browser.l


Its the same in Chrome itself you can opt out of its data gathering but it'll badger you turn the privacy settings off quite regularly.

[This was Firefox's greatest strength but over the years, especially Quantum version , less and less add-ons actually work from the older versions, one reason I jumped ship to Vivaldi and never looked back, old Firefox was great but I hate latest version.

I hate to say this but Firefox have lost me for good, sorry they changed too much for the worst, I remember using Firefox 3 ( yes original FF user back then) .

:)

I hear good things about it as well Waterfox is showing its age I'm starting to get "this is an unsupported/out of date browser" warnings on sites more and more often even though its up to date security wise. Damn its plugins are so good I'll be loathe to lose it.

edit: fixed it by spoofing the useragent string sites think its now Chrome...
 
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Soldato
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I just cant get on with Firefox anymore, it used to be my chosen browser but it feels bloated, clunky and slow, maybe its just me, Edge Chromium all the way.
 
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